That Time Was Not Our Last
by sabina.chaudri
Summary: Fairy Tail members are struggling to defeat the Demons of Tartarus. Gray has acquired a new power, but will it bring them victory? Why is Natsu feeling strange? It seems the mages have managed to win some time as they found their way out of the demon's HQ, but sooner or later they will have to return and continue their battle. Will they be able to win?... (Nalu/Gruvia/Gajevy)
1. Prologue

**Prologue **

It's amazing how one person can make you feel.

Happy.

Sad.

Annoyed.

Satisfied.

Safe.

Terrified…

Gray knew about the consequences demon particles brought on a mages body. He's seen what happened to Laxus and his crew earlier. It didn't take long for the dragon slayer and the Raijnshu's condition to escalade further. Their lungs were burning, their bodies became weak and much too sensitive, and no matter how strong they tried to stay, one by one the four of them were rendered unable to continue to battle. Fairy Tail's faithful Healer and her junior medico had eased their pain as much as they could and as fast as they could while keeping them safe on their respected sheets.

And right now Fairy Tail was back at the infirmary to lie down another friend.

Natsu and Gajeel were in the front, carrying the patient. Lucy came in next and rushed to clear the empty bed. Gray was silent. Porlyusica immediately asked them to leave the room and let her handle things in peace. Lucy knew the boys would start protesting so she dashed forward and pushed them out of the room, leaving herself. She didn't know how bad things were, but for all she cared, every minute was on the line.

This time Wendy wasn't with them so Porlyusica had to treat the patient by herself. After hearing Lucy's brief explanation of what happened, she nodded and pointed to the empty room they were now occupying.

"Can Juvia stay?", -a fragile voice asked.

The Healer turned to the source of the voice, and saw a beaten up water mage standing by the door, clothes torn, covered in dirt, her once flawless skin now covered in bruises and blood. There was a cut on her cheek.

"Please," – she barely whispered.

Gray was still silent. He was lying on the bed and Juvia's eyes were locked on the subtle movements his chest was making. It rose up slowly and even slower it went back down, and with each breath he took, she was petrified it'd be his last.

"Stay out of my way girl," – said the old woman.

Juvia merely nodded. Porlyusica's expression softened. She pointed to the built in sink at the far end in the corner of the room.

"Wash your hands and face. You're going to help me".

Juvia didn't move at first, but then, barely feeling her feet move, obliged. She was being very slow right now. Time around her was passing slowly too. She knew this feeling though. She understood where the numbness, the trembling and the salty-gray taste in her mouth were coming from.

She was afraid.

Behind the door the three mages were trying their hardest to calm down, but it seemed like the effort was only making them more anxious.

"How the fuck did he even find us in the first place?", - wondered Gajeel.

"He must've heard us. Or sensed something was wrong", - proposed Lucy.

They were in a very narrow hallway, made entirely out of dark wood. There were two windows at the end of it letting in white rays of light.

"Natsu?...Natsu," – placed a hand on his shoulder Lucy.

"Huh?"

"He's going to be alright," – she smiled at him, - "Porlyusica will take care of him."

"Yeah…" – he said absentmindedly.

"Oi, cut the crap, Salamander. Dafuq is wrong with you?"

Natsu was leaning on a wall, looking down at the ground, his eyes filled with confusion and it was obvious he was struggling to comprehend something.

"What…. was that?" – asked no one in particular Natsu.

"What are you talking about?"

"That…light? ... Did you feel it?!", - raised his voice Natsu.

"Natsu, please calm down, we are not alone here. Laxus and the rest are resting somewhere here too."

"Are you talking about that creepy-glowy tat on the ice princess's arm?", - raised a brow Gajeel

"It was black when he came in…" – noted Lucy, - "Guys?... What exactly happened back there?"...

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.

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**AN:** the prologue is short, but the chapters will be longer. Another multi-chapter story!

Can't wait to upload the first chapter!


	2. Chapter 1: A whim of gale

**Chapter One: A whim of gale.**

_Earlier that day:_

" *cough-cough*, I- *cough* did it….Did you see that, Granny? I did it!", - spat out the black water, trying to clear his throat Gajeel.

"That was amazing, Gajeel", - coughed out Levy, rubbing the water from her eyes.

As the water drained away, the burning stinging sensations subsided and Natsu and Lucy were able to regain their consciousness. Though Levy managed to get close enough to the two and cast air for them to breathe before it was too late, it was still very dark in the water. She was heavily disorientated but tried her hardest to swim back to Gajeel. At that point Gajeel brought the final blow, his body now the epitome of strength and hardness. A steel fist collided with the demon's shark-like jaw. A moment passed and the water began to flood away.

"*cough*, N-Natsu?" – called out Lucy to the boy lying next to her. She tried to lift her body up.

"Natsu? Are you alright?"

Lucy's arms were visibly shaking as she pushed her torso off the ground.

"Natsu?!"

"Fine", - he answered weakly and spat somewhere in front of him, "Bleh.. that stuff is disgusting."

Lucy breathed out a sigh of relief as the boy jerked up to sit and fidget with his pinkish hair, as if completely unharmed.

"He's truly amazing", - she thought to herself and started to search the room with her eyes.

"Levy-chan!", - Lucy spotted Levy and Gajeel about 12 steps to the right of her, - "Are you guys alright?!"

"Gajeel, are you okay?", - as if not sure, asked Levy.

"We're fine! No big deal", - yelled back Gajeel.

Lucy was beginning to calm down. Her heart wasn't racing anymore, and though her lungs were still burning she was slowly restoring her breath. The blond turned around to see the last member of their company laying flat on the ground, face down.

"Juvia?", - she called out, - "Juvia?"

No answer followed. Lucy couldn't see her face, but she paid close attention to her body, which apparently wasn't moving at all.

"Juvia!", - she tried once more.

The water mage was not responding.

_No._

"JUVIA!", - Lucy tried to get up so fast she slipped and fell while still on the floor.

"What's going on?!" – responded Gajeel, hearing his friend's name and the terror in the blonds voice.

"Juvia!", - this time it was Natsu. He was now up on his feet, quickly approaching the bluenette.

As soon as Natsu got close Lucy shouted:

"Is she breathing?!"

The Fire dragon slayer took a second to listen and with absolute confidence yelled back:

"Yes!"

Natsu didn't hover over Juvia, or measure her pulse, like ordinary people would do to check a heartbeat.

Once again Lucy calmed herself down, breathed out a painful sigh and relaxed on the floor to rest some more. She closed her eyes and focused on her leg, afraid of how badly it was hurt now that it had been burned and exposed to poison.

"Oi, Juvia? Can you hear me?", - slowly shook her shoulder Natsu, while leaning over.

"Salamander! What's happening over there?!", - asked Gajeel a little less worriedly after hearing that Juvia was alive.

"Shut up, iron-brain!", - retorted Natsu.

"Juvia? Oi, Juvia?", - he kept on shaking.

She wasn't responding, so Natsu decided to turn her over. Perhaps she swallowed too much water? With care he started putting his hand under her head when a gush of wind suddenly blew him back from where he was.

"You haven't forgotten about me, have you?"

The sudden wave of air pushed every fairy tail member down. Natsu rolled over his head and was now covering his eyes to try and see the figure, lying flat down on his stomach.

He came from the left.

"You will not survive this battle.", - he stated simply.

"Was it… Tempesta?", - whispered Levy.

"Dammit all, there's one more here", - cursed Gajeel as he tried to make out the demon's form.

Lucy heard a crumbling sound coming somewhere from the top. She tilted her head and tried to look at the ceiling only to see some sand-colored parts weirdly becoming larger and larger and…..

"AH!", - she rolled over a couple of times and barely avoided the impact. The broken pieces of ceiling hit the floor and lifted a strong veil of dust. Tempesta stopped his doings to admire his work.

"_Such… strong… magic_", - thought Lucy while making sure she was still in one piece.

Natsu halted on the ground, his eyes as wide as they could be. He couldn't turn as it could give Tempesta an opportunity to strike, so Natsu relied on his hearing to scan the room for Lucy. Her heartbeat was 1.66 times faster; she was swallowing air heavily but appeared to be okay overall. He heard her scream and judging from what he knew, she was now separated from Gajeel and Levy by big blocks of rocks. Their positions were very disadvantageous to their opponent, he figured. Gajeel, Levy and Lucy were behind him, giant bricks between them and Natsu was in the front of that whole setting, closer to Tempesta. So to get to the others the demon would have to pass through Natsu either way, which in a sense put the three of his comrades in safety. But what made Natsu worry was the realization that he was not the closest one to the enemy.

Juvia was.

The demon turned his head to the girl that was laying a few steps away to his side. Natsu saw an opening as his opponent got distracted but before he could get up the demon declared:

"She's dead."

"_Lie_", - thought Natsu. He could hear it clearly: thump-thump-pause-thump-thump-pause-thump-thump…

Natsu dodged forward focusing the hottest flame in his fist, but the demon was faster. He fell back on his side and felt a stinging pain on the side of his elbow, then a feeling of something warm and smelly running down it.

The new jolt of wind hit the entire team again. Gajeel was covering Levy's body, careful not to crush her with his weight. He wanted to make an attempt to hit that giant ventilator as well, but it would be a head-on attack and the distance he would have to cover more than screamed that it was a stupid idea. Gajeel's only option would be a sneak attack, to somehow come from the behind or the side, but that meant leaving Levy and if one more blast of wind were to occur, she would fly off the ground, hit the rocky surface of the wall behind them and break her spine. His best option was to stay put. And he hated that.

"Damnit," – breathed out Natsu.

"You've lost one already. It's a matter of time before you follow."

"Shut up, bastard!", - yelled the dragon slayer. He knew the demon was trying to get to them, he also knew that Juvia was still alive, but hearing this punk talk about his comrade like she wasn't started a different kind of flame inside him.

"Should we have some fun before you die? Though playing with trash is a rather unpleasant game", - cocked a smile the demon.

Natsu felt something moving under his stomach. He then felt himself being lifted and realized the demon was now focusing his powers on him alone.

"What was it? Something about getting ill from unstable movements?" The demon than began to rock and wobble the petite tornado in a way that made Natsu feel like vomiting. His head was getting heavier, his stomach was tightening, and his smell was off as everything started to spin.

"Oi, Salamander! Get a hold of yourself!"

That only made it worse.

Trying to pinpoint the spot where the sound came from to give him a sense of direction made Natsu even dizzier and shortly after the demon dropped him back on the ground, Natsu started choking on air that he was throwing up.

"Natsu…", - whimpered Lucy as she heard him make hideous noises.

His eyes now watery and his mouth smeared with saliva he made another attempt to attack the demon, but this time Tempesta did not humor himself and sent the boy flying to the other side of the room.

"NATSU!" - yelled Lucy.

Just as he was about to hit the wall covered in pointy rock formations, something cold and slippery was appearing under him that began to smooth and slow him down. Natsu stopped inches from the wall, and as he put his hands on the blue-ish white substance he realized what it was.

"Ice?", - looked at it puzzled Natsu.

"Hope I didn't miss all the fun."

Lucy and Gajeel turned their heads to look at the figure standing on the top of the huge fallen pieces of the ceiling.

"Gray?!", -shouted Gajeel.

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Continues on in Chapter Two: **A whim of ice.**


End file.
